I feel like I have an illogical/pathological dislike of Stone for some reason, and yet I love every one of their brews. Thus is my mindset going into this bottle.

I had this after a fairly rich dinner of whiskey/cream sauce flank steak and garlic/basil potatoes. I was ready for the onslaught of bombasticity that was expected from Stone. Agression! Hops! Mellowed tannins!

Instead, this beer is the epitome of balance in a Barleywine. I served it at about 55F, letting the second half of the serving warm. Initially, the sweetness of the carmel was fantastic. It came through in the aroma as well as subtlely in the flavor. It was noticable with deep sniffs that this was not by virtue of color/caramel malts, but rather the caramelization of sugars in the base malt, as the aroma came through as raw but not husky after about ten minutes of warming/acclimatizing.

As it warmed, the aroma came through as more alcoholic, but not astringent. A nice addition to the complexity.

Didn't leave the palate tired. Full body and flavor, but not stagnating or hebetudinous (I learned this from the Oregon spelling bee competition double elimination list, so don't read backward for spoilers if you're a spelling bee entusiast). Bravo! (1,280 characters)